ACT NOW to Turn the Tide on Mass Incarceration

URGENT ACTION: Contact Your Senator to strengthen the Criminal Justice Reform bill: 

SUPPORT: Amendments 1, 8, 76, 100, 114, 124, 129, 149, 134, 135, 152

OPPOSE: Amendments 5, 25, 18, 60, 121, 24, 87, 29, 28 37, 40, 42, 80

Tomorrow (Thu 10/26), the State Senate will be voting on comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform legislation.

The bill has many good, thoughtful provisions that will make a real difference in people’s lives and address the serious issue of mass incarceration in Massachusetts—ending mandatory minimums for many crimes, reducing the CORI sealing time, ending the imprisonment of people unable to pay fines and fees, among others.

However, there are still areas that need improvement. And that’s where you come in.

The Senate will be voting on a number of amendments, a major opportunity to strengthen the bill.

Please email or call your state senator today and urge them to SUPPORT:

  • Amendment 1 (Cyr), which would guarantee equal protections for LGBTQ prisoners
  • Amendment 8 (Barrett), which would protect the ability of prisoners to have in-person visitations
  • Amendment 76 (Keenan), which would enable access to appropriate treatment for opioid addiction for addicts while incarcerated
  • Amendment 100 (Hinds), which would require police to undergo implicit bias training
  • Amendments 114 and 124 (Creem) and Amendments 134 and 135 (Eldridge), which would curb the abusive practice of solitary confinement
  • Amendment 129 (Creem), which would repeal mandatory minimum sentences
  • Amendment 149 (Creem), which would allow current prisoners serving mandatory minimum sentences for crimes for which mandatory minimums have been repealed to be eligible for good conduct credits earned on and after the effective date of the law.
  • Amendment 152 (McGee), which would create a Justice Reinvestment Trust Fund to allow the savings from the decrease in incarceration to be redirected towards job training and programming for communities that have been disproportionately impacted by mass incarceration.

Please also urge your senator to OPPOSE:

  • Amendments 5 (Tarr) and 25 (Moore), which would reduce the felony theft threshold to $1,000
  • Amendments 18 (Rush), 60 (Tarr), and 121 (Tarr), which would reimpose mandatory minimum sentences, taking discretion away from judges
  • Amendments 24 (Moore) and 87 (O’Connor), which would expand the use of invasive surveillance technologies
  • Amendment 29 (Moore), which would eliminate valuable juvenile justice improvements
  • Amendments 28 and 37 (Tarr), which would make anyone who shares drugs that result in death guilty of manslaughter, thereby creating the possibility that, in the event of an overdose, people sharing drugs would be hesitant to call for help
  • Amendment 40 (Tarr), which would leave in place a harsh 1980 law that denies prisoners serving mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes all possibility of participating in programs aimed at reducing recidivism while they are incarcerated
  • Amendments 42 and 80 (Tarr), which would retain current parole fees

Endorsing Orgs: Plug in to Make a Difference

Salem YES on 1

Dear Safe Communities Act Endorsing Organizations,

As we articulated last month, the Safe Communities Coalition has concluded that a positive, Yes on 1 outcome in Salem is critically important. A reversal of Salem’s “welcoming” policy would reverberate across the state, critically harming our efforts to pass the Safe Communities Act, as well as undermine support for trust/welcoming/sanctuary policies in other Commonwealth municipalities.

Salem is putting our values to a vote, and if we can’t show that there is strong public support for these policies, we will face an even greater challenge in the State House.

So many of the endorsing organizations have stepped up and contributed volunteer time and effort on canvasses and phone banks already. It has been a beautiful example of what we can do when organizations come together in coalition to work on a larger goal.

In the last weeks before the Nov. 7 election, we’re asking you once again to appeal to your members and networks.

TAKE ACTION THIS WEEKEND:

Join the Salem 10/29 Statewide Virtual Phonebank — all you need is a phone, laptop and internet connection. Sign up at the link!